India: Shariah Courts Rebuffed

By NIDA NAJAR

July 8, 2014

India’s Supreme Court ruled Monday that Shariah courts, which are run by the dictates of Islamic law, had no legal status and were not legally binding. In the court’s judgment, fatwas, or orders declared by Muslim clerics, were deemed to have “no legal status” though they were not found to be illegal, and individuals may follow the Shariah rulings if they wish. The court said, however, that a religious leader “has no authority or powers to impose his opinion and enforce his fatwa on anyone,” adding that legally sanctioned fatwas have “no place in independent India under our constitutional scheme.”